About This Nerd

The next generation of nerds. Boldly going where no nerd has gone before.

Hullo there! I’m Lola and I grew up what I have dubbed a “Closet Nerd”. It’s given me an interesting perspective on nerd culture as an adult because I don’t have a lot of pre-conceived notions of what fandom should be. I do however have a lot of opinions on what I wish I would be like.

So far I’ve had some interesting adventures in nerdom, found a SF/F group in college that harrassed me until I quit, found an amazing group of writers and con-runners in Texas/the South that accepted me and helped me grow as a nerd, but now I’m in a new chapter of my life. I moved to San Francisco almost a year ago- nerd mecca, and now I’m one nerd among many.

I was at the first GeekGirlCon in Seattle, WA in 2011. There was a lot of talk about prejudice, even among nerds. I had felt this too and it was good to hear that I wasn’t the only one. Someone used the term second-wave nerd to describe people who had come out as nerds or found nerd culture later in life, often through mainstream channels. It totally embodied something I had been trying to get across to various “old school” con-runners back home. Being a young person, I got constantly asked, “How do we bring more young people to our convention?” Well don’t treat them like noobs, make panels about what they’re interested in, quit looking down on them because they didn’t know such and such movie was based on a classic book. Also don’t scare away the “normal people” who may actually be into the same things you are by immediately judging them. I’m not saying all my experiences in fandom have been horrible. GeekGirlCon was definitely a highlight, the supportive people at ApolloCon who were there for me during the college SF/F group’s abuse, and heck I met my husband through that horrible club. But I’ve started to feel like fandom is split into the old guard and the new guard. Then there’s women on the side and that’s a whole ‘nother can of worms.

Why can’t we all just get along? That’s what this blog is about basically. Celebrating all forms of nerdom and discussion of this concept of the New Nerd! The Nerd, Version 2.0, who’s proud to be nerdy and is starting to become more socially accepted. Because Geek is Chic right? Or at least that’s what we hope.